Extended Fermentation.

[Pivovar]

Hello Gents ...

I'm currently brewing a youngs American IPA kit, which has been in primary for nearly a month. My fermentation temps are around 18-20 deg c, as Im yet to build my ferm chamber. ( another project in the planning stage!)

Anyway ... It stopped bubbling on monday so I made a considerable hop addition as per instructions. The beer was very foamy, with a Krausen like substance on top, but I added the hops In the hope that by tomorrow I would be bottling.

To my suprise, it immediately started fermenting again at a healthy rate! And Is still going!!!!! ...

I'm guessing I should just leave it?. But are there any problems associated with a low temp/ slow fermentation or have I done something wrong?

Cheers, And Good Elf!

 

[treebeard]

Hello Gents ...

I'm currently brewing a youngs American IPA kit, which has been in primary for nearly a month. My fermentation temps are around 18-20 deg c, as Im yet to build my ferm chamber. ( another project in the planning stage!)

Anyway ... It stopped bubbling on monday so I made a considerable hop addition as per instructions. The beer was very foamy, with a Krausen like substance on top, but I added the hops In the hope that by tomorrow I would be bottling.

To my suprise, it immediately started fermenting again at a healthy rate! And Is still going!!!!! ...

I'm guessing I should just leave it?. But are there any problems associated with a low temp/ slow fermentation or have I done something wrong?

Cheers, And Good Elf!

Personally I would take an hydrometer reading now, then do it again tomorrow, if the readings are identical then you should be ok to prime and bottle, but to be sure you could take a third reading the following day.

What was your original gravity reading?

 

[DoctorMick]

I found that Young's American IPA kit took an eternity to finish and I added the dry hop waaaaaaay too early and ended up with a grassy taste. Have you taken gravity readings?

 

[Pivovar]

Cheers Guys!

OG. Was around 1040 ... When I made the hop addition it was around 1018 ... So I thought it may not have gone through full fermentation and the froth kind of confirmed that, In retrospect I think I should have waited before hopping ;-(

I guess all I can do now is wait until the bubbling subsides and take a 3 day reading as suggested and see if its come to an end ...

Would the Hops or an Infection of some kind cause a bubbling Air lock?... I hope not, it smells delicious!!!!! (at the moment!)

 

[terrym]

@Pivovar
If you brewed this kit to around 22-23 litres or so and used all the ingredients and they were properly mixed in it should give you an OG above 1.050 so your OG looks a bit off.
Next this kit takes a long time to ferment out as others have said, mine took over 3 weeks, others have reported even longer.
If you had krausen on top of the brew when you thought it had stopped is it highly likely that it was still fermenting. Bubbling airlocks are notoriously unreliable due to leaks at the lid causing CO2 to bypass the airlock so use them as a guide only.
You are likely to have got sudden activity from the airlock since adding the hops will encourage CO2 to come out of solution. My guess is that the bubble rate will die back in due course when the equilibrium returns.
And if you truly have an SG of 1.018 you have some way to go before you get down to the likely FG of about 1.007/1.008 which is normal for this kit. However do not be tempted to package your beer before it has finished fermenting (SG readings on two or more consecutive days should be the same) or you may end up with bottle bombs.
Since you have added the hops too early you are probably faced with an extended time with hops in the beer which is not ideal. So you can either accept it as it is, or if you have another FV you could consider racking off the hops at say 7 days on from adding the hops, and allow the fermentation to complete in the second FV. The choice is yours.

 

[Clint]

This kit will drop to 1008 given time. I dry hopped for the last 4 days. To quote "the bubbling after adding dry hops...C02 isomerisation"....mine took a month to reach fg. This kit creates loads of trub I'd cold crash if I done it again or rack to another fv or leave the bottling bucket to settle before bottling. Finings....there's an idea!

 

[Pivovar]

Taking onboard ALL Advice. The S.G Dropped down to 1010, Then I broke my Hydrometer. (New one on order immediately!)

So I'm going to syphon out in to S.V and get some of the Hops away in the process. Then let it finish off in completion.

Had a taste last night out of the Hydrometer Tube and it was BXXXXDY Delicious!... so here's hoping I don't mess it up now!

Cheers Chaps, and Good 'Elf!

 

[Godsdog]

Started a coopers coffee stout on the 6th September,threw the cracked sanatised coffee beans in on the 10th,still plopping at a rate of every 6/7 minutes after 28 days,never have I ever left a brew in the FV for this long, thinking the coffee beans have something to do with it,anyway if its plopping its still in a sterile environment hopefully but begs the question how long is too long?

 

[Clint]

I had a stalled JB ipa in may...took 5 weeks to get it down to 1014 if I remember. ..I then kegged it. Still got some left...crystal clear and very tasty..if a little flat!